NICE K12 resources (web)Web resource

NICE K12 Cybersecurity Education: Community of Interest, conference and resources

At a glanceNIST's NICE program supports K-12 cybersecurity education and careers: an open community of educators that meets monthly, a national K-12 cybersecurity education conference, and resources for counselors and teachers. This is about teaching students, not securing the district, but many districts connect the two.

Reading level: Leader
Length: about 15 min for the key parts
Best for: Superintendents and cabinet, Technology directors
CSF 2.0: Govern

Browse the full library. 70 NIST publications summarized for school districts.

Key concepts

The K12 Cybersecurity Education Community of Interest works on career and technical education pathways, reviews of instructional materials and teacher professional development, and has produced a national K-12 cybersecurity education roadmap and counselor resources. The annual NICE K12 Cybersecurity Education Conference is hosted by iKeepSafe with NICE support. CyberSeek, run by CompTIA and Lightcast with NICE, maps cybersecurity jobs and career pathways.

How it is organized

K12 Cybersecurity Education Community of Interest (monthly online meetings, projects)
NICE K12 Cybersecurity Education Conference (12th conference moved to March 7-9, 2027)
NICE Framework K12 FAQ for educators
Education and training resources for counselors and administrators
CyberSeek career pathway tool

What a school district should take from it

Student cybersecurity pathways can build community support for district cybersecurity work.
The community is open to administrators as well as teachers.

How to use it in your district

Share the community and conference with CTE and curriculum leaders.
Use the counselor and administrator handouts in career events.
Connect student programs to staff awareness campaigns where it helps both.

Common misconceptions

NICE K12 resources tell districts how to secure their networks.: They focus on education and careers; use the rest of this library for district security.

Rubric categories and K12 Cyber Forward tools

Cybersecurity Rubric 2.0 categories

GV.RRRoles, Responsibilities, and Authorities
PR.ATAwareness & Training

Tools in the program portal

Two-minute lessonsFree micro-lessons for staff and families
Staff learningShort courses and lessons for staff

Related publications

SP 800-181 Rev. 1NICE Workforce Framework

Citation and source

NICE K12 resources (web), NICE K12 Cybersecurity Education: Community of Interest, conference and resources. National Institute of Standards and Technology. https://www.nist.gov/itl/applied-cybersecurity/nice/community/community-coordinating-council/k12-cybersecurity-education.

Topics: Workforce and careers, Awareness and training. This summary was written by the K12 Cyber Forward program team in its own words. NIST is not affiliated with the program and has not reviewed it. The official publication on csrc.nist.gov controls.